Before U23 Vietnam vs U23 South Korea: What Daum Saw, and What They Left Unwritten

I reopened U23 South Korea's squad list for Asian Games 20 one evening in Guangzhou, and stopped at a column few pay attention to: height. Kim Joon Hong at 1m90. Kim Jo Soo at 1m92. Lee Young Jun at 1m93. A row of numbers, straight as a fence. Beside it, U23 Vietnam's list — a different set of numbers, lower, closer to the grass. Between those two columns lies the distance the quarterfinal at 17:30 on September 25 at Paloma Mizuho Stadium (Nagoya, Japan) will either close or deepen. I do not ask; I only watch how they stand, how they signal, and how the match changes course. But before the ball rolls, I want to look back at what a South Korean newspaper saw — and what they deliberately left unwritten. Earlier this year, in the third-place playoff of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, U23 Vietnam beat U23 South Korea on penalties after a 2-2 draw across 120 minutes of regular and extra time. That memory is still fresh, but it belongs to a different team. The U23 South Korea we are about to meet at Asian Games 20 has changed a great deal from their January selves. The team from the land of kimchi has called up nine players currently based in Europe. Most play for clubs in the United Kingdom — England, Scotland, Wales — so pace and a power-oriented style will almost certainly be the approach they bring against U23 Vietnam. One thing needs to be said plainly, the sort of thing the scoreboard never says: these two teams arrive at Asian Games 20 with entirely different objectives. U23 Vietnam, alongside U23 Japan and U23 Uzbekistan, brings many U21 faces, aiming toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. That is a team being built from the foundation. U23 South Korea, meanwhile, targets Asian Games gold this year, and they are hungrier for the men's football title than any other nation across eras. The last three Asian Games — 2026, 2026, 2026 — they all won. To do so, they add over-23 players and recall several Europe-based names. This is not a youth team on an apprenticeship. It is a machine assembled to win now. In that list are three notable over-23 names: midfielder Lee Gi Hyuk, 26, of Gangwon FC; Yang Hyun Jun, 24, on the books at Celtic in Scotland; and Eom Ji Sung, 24, of Swansea City in England. These three give U23 South Korea something no Asian U23 side can buy through training alone: top-tier professional match experience. When a player is already accustomed to the pace of the Scottish Premiership or the Championship, he is no longer surprised by shoulder-to-shoulder duels or long balls. He has seen it all before. But the point I want to linger on is physicality. This is where the story becomes concrete. U23 South Korea have goalkeeper Kim Joon Hong at 1m90, centre-backs Park Seong Hoon at 1m83, Kim Jo Soo at 1m92, Shin Min Ha at 1m86, central midfielder Lee Gi Hyuk at 1m84, winger Park Seung Soo at 1m84, forwards Lee Young Jun at 1m93 and Kim Myung Jun at 1m82. Reading this list, one sees a structure built around height. U23 Vietnam's starting line-up so far has typically featured only two players above 1m80 — goalkeeper Cao Van Binh (1m84) and centre-back Pham Ly Duc (1m82). The rest are relatively short, and that is a real disadvantage in aerial duels and physical contests. Based on my experience watching matches, this is where the game is decided. Smaller teams can still survive against bigger ones — if they solve a single problem: preventing the match from turning into a series of set pieces and long balls. Once the ball goes aerial, height is no longer a trainable skill. It is physical destiny. U23 South Korea surely know this. They will look to turn every throw-in in the opposition half into a miniature corner, and every corner into a real chance. But this is where I want to turn in another direction, against the mainstream. Vietnamese fans look at the height column and see a wall. Regional media look at the nine Europe-based players and see a match already decided. Both readings are correct in data terms, and both miss one thing: psychological context. Daum of South Korea saw this, though they only told half of it. The outlet wrote: "Although coach Kim Sang Sik, who understands Korean football well, does not lead U23 Vietnam, U23 South Korea cannot afford to be complacent against this opponent. In recent years, U23 Vietnam has emerged as a formidable dark horse of Asian football, relying on their characteristic solid defence and strong team spirit." Daum went further: "This is by no means an easy opponent. In fact, the absence of coach Kim Sang Sik is acting as a catalyst boosting the competitive spirit of the Vietnamese players. Overall, this team still operates on Kim Sang Sik's tactical framework. They play solidly, pragmatically, pressing hard, preventing opponents from building play." Reading this, I understand why the Koreans are so cautious. They are not afraid of their own height. They fear something else: that their team is playing a match where losing carries consequences far beyond a quarterfinal. When the goal is Asian Games gold, and when gold means military service exemption for the players, the pressure no longer sits on the pitch. It sits in the dressing room, at meals, in the nights before the match. The more a team is assembled to win, the more it fears losing. That is the paradox any high-pressure side must live with. U23 Vietnam are the reverse. A team built on U21 players, aiming toward the 2028 Olympics, they enter this quarterfinal with almost nothing to lose. The absence of coach Kim Sang Sik, instead of weakening the team, may be doing something no tactical meeting could: pulling the players closer together. When there is no single voice to obey, a collective must find its own. And in football, teams that find their own voice are often harder to break than teams merely awaiting orders. There is one detail I always watch in matches like this. It is how players stand before a corner. A well-coached team defending aerial balls will have at least three players moving before the ball is struck. They do not jump toward the ball — they move to occupy positions before it leaves the taker's foot. That is something that cannot be taught in a few days, but also does not require being 1m90. It requires attention. And attention is something a young team with nothing to lose can bring in greater quantity than a pressure-laden team. I am not saying U23 Vietnam will win. I am saying this match, like many in Asian football, will not be decided by the height column. It will be decided by which team resolves its own paradox first. U23 South Korea must resolve the strong team's paradox: how to play without being paralysed by fear of losing. U23 Vietnam must resolve the weak team's paradox: how to defend without losing the ability to attack. And here is what none of us can know in advance. The biggest changes usually begin with a run nobody notices. It could be a U23 Vietnam centre-back stepping up half a metre to cut off a cross, breaking the play without touching the ball. It could be a U23 South Korea midfielder hesitating for exactly one beat before the decisive pass. Football at this level is not decided by the registration list. It is decided by moments the list does not record. Some revolutions have no slogans, only training sessions no one films. What I want readers to carry into the coming match is not a prediction, but a way of seeing. Watch how U23 Vietnam line up when U23 South Korea prepare a corner. Watch how our defenders contest duels in the first half — not to see whether they win or lose, but whether their spirit fades after the first half. Watch how the coach gives instructions around the 60th minute, when the data has said everything and only human quality remains. A coach's raised hand can explain more than a press conference. The groundskeepers at Paloma Mizuho will tend the pitch before this match, and none of us know their names. Then the lights will come on, and one of the two teams will walk away with a story. But until the ball rolls, I still want to believe something 24 years of watching football has taught me: the team that understands its own paradox better will have more chances in extra time. A hand raised at the right moment in the 75th minute can do more than all the height figures combined.